Prothena (NASDAQ:PRTA) Major Shareholder William Scully Acquires 50,000 Shares

Prothena Corporation plc (NASDAQ:PRTA) major shareholder William Scully purchased 50,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 20th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $8.79 per share, for a total transaction of $439,500.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 800,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,032,000. This trade represents a 6.67% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Major shareholders that own more than 10% of a company’s shares are required to disclose their transactions with the SEC.

Prothena Trading Up 4.7%

NASDAQ PRTA opened at $9.45 on Friday. Prothena Corporation plc has a 1 year low of $7.73 and a 1 year high of $11.80. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $8.98 and a 200 day simple moving average of $9.37. The company has a market cap of $494.74 million, a P/E ratio of -11.25, a P/E/G ratio of 3.18 and a beta of -0.30.

Prothena (NASDAQ:PRTA) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, August 6th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.32) EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.39) by $0.07. Prothena had a negative net margin of 80.68% and a negative return on equity of 16.45%. The firm had revenue of $1.01 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $0.42 million. Equities research analysts forecast that Prothena Corporation plc will post 0.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Prothena during the first quarter valued at approximately $230,000. Creative Planning lifted its position in shares of Prothena by 373.0% during the 2nd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 50,569 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $307,000 after buying an additional 39,879 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its position in shares of Prothena by 72.1% during the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 59,965 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock worth $364,000 after buying an additional 25,129 shares during the period. Russell Investments Group Ltd. boosted its stake in Prothena by 7,956.6% in the 2nd quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 96,196 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $584,000 after buying an additional 95,002 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hsbc Holdings PLC boosted its stake in Prothena by 251.8% in the 2nd quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 46,047 shares of the biotechnology company’s stock valued at $282,000 after buying an additional 32,959 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.08% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

PRTA has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Wall Street Zen lowered Prothena from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, July 25th. Citizens Jmp upped their price target on Prothena from $19.00 to $20.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a report on Friday, May 8th. UBS Group reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Prothena in a research report on Friday, July 24th. HC Wainwright restated a “buy” rating and issued a $30.00 price objective on shares of Prothena in a research note on Friday, July 24th. Finally, Weiss Ratings downgraded Prothena from a “sell (d-)” rating to a “sell (e+)” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 11th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $23.75.

About Prothena

Prothena Corporation plc is a clinical-stage biotechnology company dedicated to the discovery and development of novel therapies for neurodegenerative and rare diseases driven by misfolded proteins. The company’s research focuses on immunotherapies and small molecules designed to target and clear disease-causing protein aggregates. Prothena leverages proprietary protein engineering and antibody discovery platforms to advance candidates through preclinical and clinical stages.

The company’s most advanced program is an antibody targeting aggregated alpha-synuclein for the potential treatment of Parkinson’s disease, currently in mid-stage clinical trials.